Reap the benefits of embedded systems prototyping

In today's competitive environment, prototyping is necessary to understand customers, create a new market or attend to what has been ignored by industry leaders. The big problem is that most engineers don't see the benefits of prototyping and are not convinced that it is an effective way of developing and using a prototype.

This article covers the basics of why, when and how to prototype, and discusses the main reasons dedication to creating a prototype will prove to be fruitful in both gaining visibility for your product and also getting an early taste of whether your idea will resonate with targeted consumers.

There is a huge pool of great ideas with no material to show for it. A prototype makes an idea a reality and makes investors or partners confident by showing them that the idea could actually work. Creating a prototype can be a tough hurdle to jump because it converts an idea to something that has value and requires some dedication.

Most engineers understand the benefits of prototyping, but don't have a good grasp of its importance and how it can be used to develop a better product effectively in a short amount of time. To fully understand the benefits of prototyping, it is necessary to look at the process from two different perspectives: the business and technical.

What is an embedded system?
An embedded system refers to any electronic system that uses a CPU chip, but that is not a general-purpose workstation, desktop or laptop computer. Embedded systems generally use microprocessors, or sometimes custom-designed chips or both. It is used in various applications such as vehicles, machine tools and consumer electronics.